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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 2016-06-27Meeting of the Ithaca Town Board Monday,June 27,2016 at 4:30 p.m. Minutes Board Members Present:Bill Goodman, Pat Leary,Tee-Ann Hunter, Eric Levine,Rich DePaolo,and Pamela Bleiwas Rod Howe -Absent Staff Present: Susan Ritter, Bruce Bates, Mike Solvig,Judy Drake, Paulette Terwilliger, and Jim Weber 1.Call to Order - Meeting called to order at 4:35 p.m. 2.Committee Reports a.Budget - Mr.Levine reported that they were meeting Wednesday and he reviewed the agenda. Ms.Hunter asked if there was any sense that we are heading to the tax cap override and Mr. Goodman responded that he assumes that we were because even the cap is going to be so low because the inflation rate is so low and just a 2% wage increase would put us over the cap. b.Planning - Mr.DePaolo reported that the committee continued looking at the Zoning Review and Approach Plan prepared by Planning Staff which looks at ways to incorporate Form Based elements into our Code and they are about half way through although there are some conceptual issues that need to be discussed but working through it. The Committee also started a discussion on how to identify and potentially protect historical resources and Ms.Ritter added that historical information is now on Municity so anyone looking at a property will have that information.The Committee is looking to revive the affordable housing topic and begin discussion on set asides for developments which seem to be very elusive on how do we do this in a market-based way that doesn't disincentivize people from building;how do we create thresh holds that don't simply allow people to stay one unit under the threshold etc. Next month will be on Wednesday at 2:30 instead of Thursday. c. Public Works - Mr.Goodman reported they discussed the 2017 fleet replacement program and talked about adding information to the spreadsheet about the equipment so the board can understand the history of the equipment and its maintenance and uses.The Committee also discussed the petition regarding a water/sewer extension for Trumansburg Rd.Currently the sewer line is behind the hospital and then up eventually to the Woolf Lane area but it doesn't go along Trumansburg Rd and it would be very expensive to get that to those houses on the road.The Committee decided there is nothing we can do right now given an estimated cost of $1M and the number of houses that would serve. Mr.Goodman added that he did meet with Dave Mountin and Jack Young about the project Dave would like to do and whether there were any plans by Jack to develop his propertyas it pertains to developing water and sewer lines and Dave will be looking at his options and getting back to us. Ms.Bleiwas noted the email she received about the railing on East Hill Rec Way which she would like sent to the Committee for discussion. d. Personnel and Organization - Ms. Bleiwas reported that they discussed the extension from the Tompkins County Highway facility to our Public Works Department and options that are being discussed to entice them to put in the cable. Updates on open and filled positions and negotiations have reconvened and hopefully will move forward. Mike Beach has replaced Joe Slater and she has been added to the negotiation team. Trainings on Domestic Violence Awareness will be held in March. Gift certificates for key volunteers were discussed and this will come out of an existing line item in our budget. A staffing report for the next 5-years for Public Works was discussed with the most immediate being a Working Supervisor to fill Joe Slater's position.This will be going through the Budget Committee with other departments also being asked for a 5- year projection. e.Other Committees - SJC - Mr.Goodman reported that the Special Joint Committee is looking at revising its existing agreement similar to what has been happening at Bolton Point and one of the first things they are looking at is changing the Chief Operator position ad its job classification and compensation.The recommendation is to ask the City to move the position to a management and confidential position rather than the general bargaining level.The Commissioners at Bolton Point have made all the changes to the old agreement and it will be coming to all the boards of the five municipalities soon. 10 - Ms.Hunter reported that she, Mr.Goodman and Hillary Lambert went to Albany to meet with DEC and Dept.of State relative to the update of the Watershed Management Plan during the TMDL process that has been going on regarding the Southern Shelf. There was a surprisingly big turnout from DEC and through the course of the monitoring that was done, the sites that had been previously located around lake source cooling were stretched out along the length of the lake and testing was done on the length of the lake and it has become apparent that the great proportion of phosphorus is coming from non- point sources and what the DEC is now grappling with is whether and how to either create and implement a TMDL for the whole lake north of the shelf or have a nine element plan. A nine element plan is a little less regulatory but it is an EPA regulated document and would open up some Federal funding.Jeff Myer is in charge of data collection which then gets turned over to another arm of DEC and they will be working on policy and regulation.They were glad that we had come and we discussed possible funding for next step applications and thinking of a planning grant to study how best to keep the counties and municipalities in this large area to stay together and sustain the efforts to continue the Watershed protection. X f. Codes and Ordinances - Bill reported that the solar law was finished and referred to the Board for setting a public hearing. We did have a couple of residents come in and ask the town to prohibit ground mounted systems which the committee decided not to do because we want to encourage solar power and we also had a suggestion from Steve Williams that we simplify the law drastically and the committee decided not to do that either. He asked the board if the draft presented in the packet is goof to send to the other boards and county for review. Mr. DePaolo had a couple of clarification questions which were answered. Mr. Goodman reported that the same is true for the revision to allow for the "Keeping of Chickens"and this will prohibit in High Density but allow in all others within certain parameters such as setbacks and lot size in Medium Density and it takes away the requirement for a Special Approval which is cumbersome. Next on the COC agenda is the mural law in conjunction with the revised sign law. The board moved ahead to Item 10. 3.Consider providing comments to the Planning Board on the draft scoping document for the Maplewood draft EIS Mr.DePaolo asked why the reference to Historical Resources was deleted,why? Ms.Ritter responded that there were no issues noted by State Office of Preservation and so it was dropped. Ms.Hunter asked about the statement saying it will have to abide by the PDZ and whether the PDZ is part of the scoping document or is it simply looking at the proposed project before it has been shaped by the PDZ?Ms.Ritter responded that the PDZ still has some thresholds that will remain open because we still want to see what comes out of this process,in terms of parking,for example,because we don't want to overdo or underdo the parking so we need to see what their analysis finds. The Planning Committee has been open to the idea of using studies and reports that may come out of this process in drafting the PDZ. Ms.Ritter added that the two big issues seem to be the footprint and height and the impact on the community and there is a lot of interest in this project.Mr.Goodman added that EdR has stated they plan on using all electric power so there would be the chance to use renewable power but folks are concerned about other types of power that can be used that is even greener.Using local labor is also a concern and the building on Mitchel Street which is out of character so the changes they come up with will be interesting to see. Ms.Ritter stated that Planning staff is not really excited about the rendering that has been submitted but you could still have a multi-storied building with gabled roofs and such that would fit into the neighborhood so it will be interesting to see what they come back with. Mr.DePaolo thought it wouldn't be a stretch to let them know that there are members of the board that are concerned about this and will be paying close attention to fitting into the neighborhood character. Mr. Goodman noted that the buildings will be on the tax rolls and he has reminded them that if they want to keep to their schedule, they will have to pay for a code inspector because of the amount of time that will be involved. 4.Discuss contracting for design services for the park/trail on E King Road Mr. Goodman summarized the topic stating that an anonymous donor has given the Town $60K to spend on developing this park and this design service would be initial ideas for around $4K and if we decided to move forward, it would be another $1 IK to get more detailed plans. The Board discussed the provided layout and there were some concerns about having a trail behind houses rather than along the road.There is an existing easement behind the houses that is proposed for the trail but there is a lot of foot traffic potential along the road. Ms.Ritter noted that the proposed trail behind the houses would connect with the Hospicare public trail.The idea would be to put a pull-off or parking area for access and talk to the neighborhood to see what they would like to see there given the limitations. 5.Discuss and consider approval of the State retirement for elected officials (Attachment 1) This is a form from the State and is filed as an attachment. TB Resolution 2016-091:Approval of the State Retirement for Elected Officials Be it Resolved that the Town of Ithaca,Location Code 30222 hereby established the following standard work days for these titles and will report the officials to the New York State and Local Retirement System based on their record of activities: Town Supervisor,6 hours,William Goodman,Term 01/01/2016 -12/31/2018,25.67 days/month Councilperson,6 hours, Eric Levine,Term 01/01/2016 -12/31/2018,10.3 days/month Moved:Pamela Bleiwas Seconded:Pat Leary Vote:Ayes -Bleiwas,Leary,Levine,Hunter,DePaolo,and Goodman 6.Buy Back option for Caterpillar Excavator -Pulled 7.Discuss and consider approval of bid documents for Pine Tree Road Backlot Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project TB Resolution 2016 -092:Authorization to go out to bid -Pine Tree Road Backlot Sanitarv Sewer Rehabilitation Project Whereas the Town Board has had the opportunity to review the bid specifications for the Pine Tree Road Backlot Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project,now therefore be it 7 Meeting of the Ithaca Town Board Monday,June 27,2016 at 4:30 p.m. 215 North Tioga Street,Ithaca,NY 14850 Agenda 1.Call to Order 2.Committee Reports a.Budget b.Planning c.Public Works d.Personnel and Organization e.Other f.Codes and Ordinances -Solar Law -Keeping of Chickens Law 3.Consider providing comments to the Planning Board on the draft scoping document for the Maplewood draft EIS 4.Discuss contracting for design services for the park/trail on E King Road 5.Discuss and consider approval of the State retirement for elected officials 6.Discuss and consider approval of the Buy Back option for Caterpillar Excavator 7. Discuss and consider approval of bid documents for Pine Tree Road Backlot Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project 8.Discuss what constitutes a "significant"impact in the SEQR process 9.Consider Consent Agenda Items a.Approval of Town Board Minutes b.Town of Ithaca Abstract 10.Consider Executive Session to discuss pending Badger litigation Resolved that the Town Board approves and authorizes the bid documents for the Pine Tree Road BackJot Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project. Moved:EricLevine Seconded:RichDePaolo Vote: Ayes -Levine,DePaolo,Goodman,Hunter,Leary and Bleiwas 8.Discuss what constitutes a "significant"impact in the SEQR process Mr. Goodman noted this question comes up often and most recently was discussed during the Park Lane water main replacement project where a 6" inch main was being replaced by an 8" main and whether that will be a growth inducement and whether that is a significant impact. Mr. Hebdon had responded rather well saying that in the Northeast Study we had done, the recommendation was that all 6" inch mains go to 8" mains to meet fire protection flow and whenever we put in new mains, they are 8" inch mains. Ms.Brock has provided the section from the SEQR handbook and he turned to the end of that handout,on page 88-89. Mr.DePaolo stated that the question is more on what happens to existing infrastructure and what the consequences are when they are enlarged;if the 6"inch main was a limiting factor for future development in those areas. He remembered that Mr.Hebdon had answered saying he could spell out an assessment on the SEQR form regarding whether the larger size would allow for an expansion of development or not and then whether that would be significant or not. The word "significant"is not the only word, but "significant adverse" impact. A project or action could have a significant impact but that impact could be positive,neutral or not rise to the level of adverse and even if it is adverse,there can be mitigations.In these cases, the impact may be significant,and that can and should be stated,but the impact is not a significant adverse impact.If the possibilities are addressed in the comment section of the SEQR,that should suffice and allay the concerns of the Board. Ms.Hunter stated that we should not be afraid to check the box "yes"but simply explain in the comment section.Mr.DePaolo added that when we indicated in the Comp Plan that we wanted to focus development in areas that were already served by sewer and water,that comes with an assumption that the capacity of the current system is the growth-limiting factor in those areas so if we expand them, we just have to be aware that they are expansions and we have to be clear about that on the SEQR and in our decisions because we can't pretend that a 6"inch main is even close to an 8" inch main in terms of the way it provides for existing and future residences. Ms.Leeiry wanted to be clear that the Comp Plan did not mean growth had to freeze and be limited to areas with water and sewer and Mr.Goodman responded that it did talk about not wanting to extend it and Mr.DePaolo added that the intent was that there was plenty of growth potential in the service areas that already exist and we are not running out of places to build. Ms. Leary stated that if we found there was a need, we could amend the Comp Plan. 9.Consider Consent Agenda Items TB Resolution 2016 -093:Consent Agenda 5" Resolved,that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approves and/or adopts the following Consent Agenda items: a.Approval of Minutes -Pulled /None b.Town of Ithaca Abstract Moved:Tee-Ann Hunter Seconded:Pamela Bleiwas Vote: Ayes -Hunter,DePaolo,Leary,Levine,Goodman and Bleiwas TB Resolution 2016-093b:Town of Ithaca Abstract Whereas the following numbered vouchers have been presented to the Ithaca Town Board for approval of payment;and Whereas the said vouchers have been audited for payment by the said Town Board;now therefore be it Resolved that the governing Town Board hereby authorizes the payment of the said vouchers in total for the amounts indicated. VOUCHER NOS.784 -883 General Fund Town wide 33,593.52 General Fund Part Town 6,634.14 Highway Fund Part Town 203,239.39 Water Fund 14,202.66 Sewer Fund 53,777.59 Sapsucker Water Tank Replace 4,813.27 Risk Retention Fund 89.00 Fire Protection Fund 255000.00 Forest Home Lighting District 197.21 Glenside Lighting District 71.81 Renwick Heights Lighting District 90.23 Eastwood Commons Lighting District 179.92 Clover Lane Lighting District 21.48 Winner's Circle Lighting District 63.76 Burleigh Drive Lighting District 73.22 West Haven Road Lighting District 235.89 Coddington Road Lighting District 139.81 Trust and Agency 997.00 TOTAL 573,419.90 10.Consider Executive Session to discuss pending Badger litigation 6? Miss Hunter moved to enter executive session to discuss pending litigation vs Badger Equipment at 4:18 p.m.seconded by Mr.DePaolo,unanimous.Mr.DePaolo moved to reenter open session at 5:35 p.m.,seconded by Ms.Bleiwas,unanimous. Meeting was adjourned upon a motion and a second at 6:16p.m. Submitte^y Paulette Terwilliger,Town Clerk 7